Cigarettes and Tobacco News

Jun 23, 2006 -- Massachusetts is poised to become the sixth state in the country to require tobacco companies to sell only "fire-safe" cigarettes with the approval of a recent bill in the House of Representatives.

State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, D-Watertown, who is the lead sponsor of the fire-safe cigarettes legislation, called it an honorable day to do something that will literally save lives by achieving a fire-safe cigarette standard.

"It's a matter of consumer protection, that is also, quite simply, a life-saving measure," said Kaprielian. "Cigarette manufacturers must be held to the same safety standards as other companies whose products pose a fire hazard."

Similar laws requiring fire-safe, or self-extinguishing, cigarettes have been passed in New York, Vermont, California, Illinois and New Hampshire. Fire-safe cigarettes are made with special paper containing "speed bumps" that slows down and extinguishes a cigarette's burn if the smoker is not actively puffing on it, and are less likely to cause fires than regular cigarettes.

Under the legislation, all cigarettes sold or offered in Massachusetts must be tested and meet the American Society of Testing and Materials standard for cigarette ignition propensity. Studies have shown that cigarettes meeting this performance standard are 90 percent more likely to self-extinguish than conventional cigarettes.

The pending bill, named for the Kearney Family from Boston who lost six people in one of the city's deadliest fires caused by a smoldering cigarette, has now been approved in both the Senate and the House, but differences in the two versions will need to be agreed upon before final passage.

"We will absolutely get this done this session and when we do, it will be something every one of us in the Massachusetts Legislature can be immensely proud of," Kaprielian said. "The Kearney O'Neill McGovern bill is far too long overdue. Not one more family, not one more firefighter, and not one more needless, unnecessary death needs to happen because of the wrong kind of cigarette paper."

Cigarette-ignited fires are the leading cause of home fire deaths in Massachusetts and nationally. Additionally, thousands of victims suffer devastating burn and lung injuries, and property losses total millions of dollars each year as a result. So far this year, at least seven deaths in Massachusetts are believed to have been the result of cigarette-ignited fires.